


Scavenging Trips

by AlexxaSick



Category: Arashi (Band), The Stand - Stephen King
Genre: End of the World, M/M, Pandemics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 03:47:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2453555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexxaSick/pseuds/AlexxaSick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>97% of the population was wiped from the planet. Six years have passed. The remaining people try to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scavenging Trips

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rsk110](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsk110/gifts).



> It’s Stephen King’s fault that this came out this way. This is for one of my fa-vorite writers in the fandom, I hope you like it Rae xD tho it might be weird :S. Also see some notes at the end of the story for references

# Chapter I

The military bases were the first ones to be looted. But if one cared enough to look for less obvious things, there were still some things that could be looted. Especially since they had Kazunari on their team.

Today's target seemed mostly rusted, the protective fence had been breached a long time ago and weeds seemed to have reclaimed the space between the wires. Sho geared the truck to get it over the same spot that had been trespassed before. Jun's hand went directly to the butt of the gun he usually carried in a holster, but right now it was on his knees.

 

The place seemed totally forgotten and deserted, however they had been wrong before and it had almost cost Satoshi his left eye and Kazunari his foot. Jun was the one who had beaten himself the most, it had been his plan after all. Masaki held his rifle in a way that enabled him to easily start shooting if it came to that. Other than a scar on his temple, Satoshi had no other traces of the wound. Kazunari on the other hand had a slight limp that aggravated with cold weather. The fracture would have healed better if they had been able to find a doctor sooner. Now they were all 200% more careful when they looted abandoned sites.

 

Sho came to a stop in front of the main building. The other four looked out the windows for a minute to make sure they didn't see movement. They climbed down through the same side. Sho stayed behind as usual to guard the vehicle. He was armed with a shotgun, an AK-47 and the truck they had been using, they called it Sherpa with some respect, like another member of the team. It was equipped with a machinegun on the roof.

They stood in the formation Jun had taught them for another minute before proceeding to the door, still forming a line. The door had been forced inward with force. Masaki wasn't feeling really optimistic on what they could find there, by now. The emergency lights had been shot or just broken, so they couldn't know if the building had the electric generator that they were looking for.

 

On the slab that once had been a reception desk, the bones of someone lay there. It was as though someone had put the corpse there once the person had died and decided to leave it there. The door that led into the facility had also been forced open. Masaki left the formation after Jun had nodded to him lightly. He looked behind the skeleton, towards where the pieces of the computer were. There was a plaque that he cleaned with his forearm and could see several names and numbers. He smiled, because even if offices weren't the right place to find ammo, generators, food or other necessities, they sometimes held liquor, tobacco or other luxury items they could trade.

 

One by one, Jun and Kazunari searched the offices while Satoshi and Masaki were on lookout. They had tried other combinations in the past, but Masaki tended to get distracted with papers and personal mementos while Satoshi just overlooked things. That was why now only Jun and Kazunari were allowed to register premises.

 

Their loot as they approached the top floor, was 14 bottles of either vodka, whiskey or bourbon in different states of consumption. Three boxes of cigars, 18 packs of cigarettes, 4 boxes of matches that may or not work, three disposable lighters and 4 zippo lighters. A can of zippo liquid that wasn’t evaporated, a dozen notebooks and a packet of new pencils that weren't eaten by rats or mold. Kazunari also found something that Jun was very pleased with: three pairs of glasses. As time passed, it became apparent that the place was completely abandoned.

 

There was a ladder that led to the roof, through a trapdoor. Masaki climbed it, he'd be the only one who could say if there was a generator and if it was able to run at all. He felt the hot air hit his face when he opened the trapdoor. He stepped onto the roof and found at least the remains of at least 5 people lying there. When Sho and him started to hop places in hopes of finding different things that helped them survive, the discovery of corpses always shocked him. But after six years, the corpses were more alike to bones and less like grinded beef, and the shock lessened.

 

Even after so long, he still felt uncomfortable stepping on the traces of clothes that still lay pooling on the skeletons or over the remains themselves. So he waded to avoid them. Still clutching his rifle, he saw the generator a couple of meters in front. It was damaged, someone had shot it several times. That wouldn't do. Further behind the generator there was a tiny shed that he felt obliged to search.

 

This was one of the few doors that hadn't been forced open, it was tightly closed with something that looked like a complicated lock. He came back to the hatch and called for Kazunari.

 

With a few complaints and grumbles, Kazunari climbed up to the roof. Masaki patted his bum before guiding him to the shed. Masaki took the chance to take a sip of water from his canteen while he watched Kazunari work the lock open.

 

"Have you drank any water since we set off this morning?" Masaki asked casually trying to stay in the shade of the busted generator.

 

"What?" Kazunari mustered, like he hadn't heard what the other said.

 

Masaki sighed and stepped closer to him before repeating his question.

 

"No, don't start--let me do my job! For Christ's sake!" Kazunari pleaded, trying to ignore the concerned look on Masaki's face.

 

Something clicked and Kazunari cheered under his breath, pulling his lock picking tools into his backpack. Masaki had his flashlight ready to point it inside the shed.

 

It was a gas tank and it read 300 gallons in its label. Masaki stretched out to see the dial that marked how full it was.

 

"It's almost full!" Masaki exclaimed with a smile.

 

"We hit jackpot" Kazunari smiled back, "I'll go tell Jun."

 

"Kazu… Sit down," Masaki guided him to the shade and Kazunari obeyed with a pout, "Drink some water, please. I'll go tell Jun."

 

Looking at it, Jun quickly calculated that they didn't have enough cans to bring it all down, and that they couldn't lower the tank down the stairs. Good thing the last town they traded with gave them some good rope.

 

Kazunari was un-equipping the machine from the roof of the Sherpa while the other four lowered the tank with a complex system of ropes and hoists that Jun had always carried around, but no one else knew how they worked. Once or twice Kazunari had tried to make him get rid of those to get more stuff into the truck.

 

Three hours later, the sun was starting to climb down from its zenith. They were drenched with sweat but the tank was resting against the top of the Sherpa they just needed to strap it good. It was a big gamble, transporting it all the way to their place. But it was a gamble they had to take. They couldn't afford not having this gas tank.

 

They sat inside the Sherpa to have lunch. They still had two buildings left to explore, one seemed to be a barracks and the other a large warehouse. Since they had been alone so far, they decided that Masaki and Sho would stay behind to tie up the tank and start placing the loot in the trunk. Jun, Kazunari and Satoshi would proceed to the barracks first.

 

They thoroughly searched the big rooms, the bunks, the nightstands. They didn't find any blankets, or sleeping bags. Jun was starting to think they were wasting their time when they came across a laundry room. Most of the sheets and blankets were messed up, slept in. Some corpses lay on them too. But there were some that weren't rotten. These linens had been packed in plastic bags. Masaki’s guess was that either the package just came in when the disaster happened or they were getting ready to ship them elsewhere. Whatever it was, now they had been decommissioned by their scavenger team. It wasn't more than half a dozen, but it was better than nothing. They also found another can of zippo fluid and a set of stones.

 

It was midafternoon when they mobilized to the last building. The one that was further down the road. It looked more battered than the other ones. It probably contained nothing. They took the truck because if they didn't see something that caught their attention they would leave immediately. It was far more dangerous trying to make their way back to their haven when the sun had settled than making it when they still had time.

 

There was a safe and they loaded it into the back of the truck. They left the military base as soon as they could. They didn't know if it contained anything useful, but they didn't have time to waste. It was better if they were on their way and Jun was starting to get antsy. Kazunari could try to disarm the lock later in a safer place. They wrapped everything up and got into the truck. They had a potential bomb over their heads and it just wasn't convenient if they ran into pirates right now.

 

# Chapter II

 

The candlelight was barely enough to illuminate anything so Masaki pulled the comic he had found a few weeks ago closer to the flame. The floor of the former office was cold and hard but Masaki had been collecting blankets and sheets in order to make a kind of nest where he could sleep or do other activities in. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth changing the candle to the other side, careful not to light the sheets. He was ready to give up when Sho walked into their room.

 

They felt so elated by the almost 300 gallons of gas and the lack of trouble bringing it back home that they had filled out the tub and washed. Sho had lost the game of rock, paper, scissors and he was the last one to bathe. Masaki had been waiting for him.

 

Sho stood over him, but Masaki didn’t turn around, he keept holding the comic, staring at it. Feeling Sho's feet at either side of his hips, he knew Sho wanted to celebrate, but Masaki wouldn't budge until he was asked nicely.

 

They stayed like that for a while. Masaki was more patient than Sho and knew that he would win in the end. Sho was the first one to make a move to kneel over Masaki´s legs, straddling them.

 

The feeling of his tongue tracing the birthmark on his left shoulder, reaching the edge and making a wet little trail towards the center of Masaki's back, made Masaki shiver. But he did not let go of the comic, he stayed very still.

 

He liked desperate Sho, desperate Sho was more creative. He was not afraid or embarrassed of doing the things he liked or to let his partner do whatever he liked. Desperate Sho was more aggressive in taking what he needed. Desperate Sho in short, was Masaki's favorite kind of Sho.

 

Sho's hands begun at Masaki's hips, pressing the soft skin with his fingers and his palms. They continued up to his sides, they were a bit ticklish and made Masaki stiffle a giggle. Sho reached his armpits soon, and continued to Masaki's shoulders and upper arms. He was coaxed into letting the comic go, he turned the candle off before Sho put his lips to Masaki's skin at the nape of his neck.

 

At first it's only a series of dry kisses. Masaki's hands were pinned to the nest’s blankets, and Sho progressed to sucking the skin behind his ear and jaw. Masaki moved his legs, just to do something. If he didn't start to take part of this, he would implode. His butt met Sho's crotch and he felt Sho's cock getting hard against one of his butt cheeks.

 

When Sho started to bite his neck, Masaki could feel himself and Sho become completely hard. By now, Masaki knew what made Sho tic, even if six years ago he barely remembered his name. Six years ago when they ended up together by chance. He was so glad it had happened that way.

 

He erased the thoughts of those awful events from his mind turning his head to steal a kiss from the plump lips. Sho's teeth and tongue were very welcomed as his cock settled between Masaki's butt cheeks.

 

"Sho…" Masaki groaned, feeling Sho's teeth against his neck again, making a path of bites from one side of his neck to the other. He said something more but it was lost when he buried his face on the soft blanket. Masaki's body was shivering uncontrollably, especially when Sho bit him harder. They grinded against each other.

 

"Let me go, Sho." He whispered rotating his hips again, to feel his cock against his crack and to have some friction against the "bed" where he lay.

 

Sho obediently sat up, letting go of Masaki's wrists. Masaki turned around to face his lover. He hadn't even finished turning around when Sho's thick lips were on his, possessing him, sticking his tongue as far down the other’s throat as it could go. Masaki gladly reciprocated.

 

Now that they were face to face and Masaki's hands weren't pinned down, he felt hungry, starved from the touch of Sho's skin. So his hands went to trace the muscles on his lover's back, going over the valleys and the dips he already knew well but wanted to sear into his brain.

 

The body between his arms was twitching and twisting as his lover tried to deepen the kiss even more. Masaki caressed Sho's sides and aimed his attention towards Sho's nipples. Sho arched his back and his head fell backwards, allowing Masaki to latch his mouth onto Sho's neck. Masaki wasn't as tender as the other had been, he was aiming to leave a mark on the thick muscular neck. His hands traveled once again down Sho's body, training on his buttocks, squeezing and kneading the flesh.

 

Sho shuddered, his hips pushed against Masaki. His cock poked Masaki in the stomach. With his index finger, Masaki teased his lover's hole, causing him to thrust his hips once more.

 

"Just prepare me already…" Sho whined pulling apart from Masaki.

 

Sho was the one face down on the nest’s blankets this time around. Masaki had found the bottle of lube they had salvaged from a house a couple of months ago. The preparation was slow, and Sho was begging to be fucked by the time Masaki started to think he might be ready for it.

 

Straddling Sho's prostrate form, Masaki directed his cock between the tight pair of ass cheeks and started to go inside him. It was so hot in there. It took all of his concentration not to come right then, with Sho writhing and moaning, pushing himself up to take more of Masaki's cock at the time.

 

Their pace was frantic once Sho had gotten used to having Masaki's cock inside. Sho sat up and it took some adjustment to fit Masaki's legs between his, and he was tucked on Masaki's chest.

 

This way, Masaki could easily reach to grab Sho's cock and start pumping it as they moved together to completion.

 

They fell asleep spooning. Tired. Satisfied.

# Chapter III

 

Kazunari's alarm went off at exactly 7:00. Like it always did. He said that he couldn't re-program it without a full battery, but the other four suspected that he just didn't want to. It suited them anyway, since electricity was scarce, they should have better uses for it. So working during daylight was preferable.

 

After a light breakfast, they spent their morning unloading the Sherpa. Besides the gasoline tank, it wasn't that good of a loot. The back of the truck had maybe two dozen articles, and this wouldn't do. Sho kept the track of their "treasures" in a notebook.

 

Sho was staring at the paper with a frown when the rest of them entered the kitchen-eating area. They smelled because of the lifting and placing of the tank, unfortunately they couldn't risk wasting gas or water so they would just have to wait.

 

They sat at their usual places. Not that they ever talked about it. The seating arrangement was something that happened naturally as they had naturally fit with each other after they found each other.

 

"So?" asked Satoshi, in that dreamy voice of his.

 

Sho looked up from the notebook before answering, "Not good, we need some cans. We either give some of our gasoline to the townspeople or we go further to the next city and try to raid a supermarket. I also need oil and some stuff so I can give the Sherpa some maintenance."

 

"I don't think we can afford giving the gas to them." Jun sighed, leaning a little towards Satoshi, who sat in the other side of the table from him.

 

"That's what I said before we went to the military base." Kazunari pointed out crossing his arms over his chest.

 

"True but we didn't have enough gasoline to take the Sherpa longer than that." Masaki sighed, petting Sho's hand forcing him to relax a little.

 

"Yes. I think now we are in a position that will allow us to go there and back." Satoshi said, his hand closing around Jun's, "What do you think?"

 

"I don't like it. I don't want to run into the gangs." Jun answered looking at their joined hands with a pleasant smile.

 

"It's inevitable. Unless you want to stay here and starve to death… I don't think your garden will feed us soon." Kazunari intervened. He rolled his eyes leaning back, with his arms still tightly wrapped around himself.

 

"We have trained to do this, I think we should go for it." Masaki said pulling back from Sho. He was looking directly at Kazunari. But Kazunari kept his eyes fixed on the table in front of him, between himself and Masaki.

 

"The village that settled down in the east has saved a corn crop and an apple orchard." Sho informed matter-of-factly, pulling on a thread that had unraveled from the parka he was wearing. Everyone turned their heads to look at Sho, they looked worried and shocked. "Don't look at me like that. The last time we raided that gas station, when those guys jumped out of nowhere and we had to slither around to save our asses, I heard two of them talking, just before I cut their necks."

 

"I would love some fresh apples!" Masaki sing-sang, leaning towards Jun and resting his head on Jun's shoulder. "Let's do it, Jun… we can trade."

 

"I don't like that we are talking about murdering so lightly." Said Jun patting Masaki's thigh fondly with his free hand. .

 

"We could find some new clothes." Satoshi contributed, looking at Sho still fiddling with the thread. His hand still held Jun's refusing to let him go.

 

"I think we're doing this then…" Jun pouted pensively.

 

"We need to check if the gas masks still work well." Kazunari considered in a soft voice, slightly letting his arms loosen around his body.

 

"What for?" Sho asked finally breaking the thread from the fabric.

 

"Lonely houses mean moldy houses, plus decomposed corpses." Kazunari informed, "We’re better safe than sorry."

 

"Yeah all right." Satoshi nodded.

 

They stayed in silence for a while, probably making mental checklists about what they needed to do as preparation for their expedition.

 

"Who's supposed to cook today?" Sho asked lightly, he bumped his shoulder with Kazunari's playfully.

 

"Not you," Kazunari replied, "wouldn't like to be poisoned while still at home."

 

The rest sniggered, while Sho scowled.

 

"I cooked breakfast," Jun blurted out letting Satoshi's hand go, "Masaki did yesterday's lunch…"

 

"I'll cook us some chahan." Satoshi said before they could start a discussion over it, "Meanwhile, why don't you take a look at Kazu's maps and figure out which city would be better to go to."

 

It wasn't an order, it was a suggestion, but everyone started to do as Satoshi said.

 

# Chapter IV

 

Jun and Satoshi lay on the patio's floor. There was a blanket under them. The sun was slowly descending to the west. They had decided to take their afternoon nap outside despite Kazunari's objections. It wasn't that the long cement esplanade was exposed, the walls that guarded the building that was once a research facility, were high and a bit prison-like. Kazunari just didn't like to risk it.

 

Masaki didn't like to sleep in the afternoon, it made him feel weird and sleepy the rest of the day. He was in a lawn chair a few meters from where the other two lay. He was holding his comic book again, reading avidly.

 

Sho and Kazunari preferred to sleep inside. They were in Kazunari's room, probably rehashing what Masaki had done to Sho last evening, but it didn't bother him, it was only Kazunari after all.

 

Masaki turned the page of the comic book and started with the next panel. But before he could go to the second, Jun grunted, taking him out of his reading. He looked up and the first thing he did was look for a beetle that would be teasing them in their sleep. Masaki saw nothing. Then Jun tossed around in his sleep.

 

Jun's face was frowned, his eyes closed and another grunt fell off his lips. Masaki sighed and walked over the blanket. Jun sometimes got bad dreams. Masaki worried about him. The nightmares had become less often and less scary in the past few months. They didn't have to go and stay with him, distracting him by playing cards every other night.

 

He couldn't blame Jun. Sho and Masaki had been fortunate, they had found each other quickly after everyone else went down. They had already known each other since they were kids, they had strayed apart while they figured out what they wanted to do with their lives and then, the pandemic had brought them together again. It had been as if no time had passed between them. So they stuck together. That had been six years ago. Five years and a half ago they had driven their motorbike down the highway that led to their current location, the abandoned military research facility. Kazunari had been defending it against some people that were trying to enter it. He didn't really need help, but Sho stopped the bike and they pointed their rifles toward them and fired.

 

Kazunari was annoyed at first, but in the end he invited them in and they prepared a meal consisting of military issued canned food and some pasta Sho and Masaki had scavenged in the last town they had passed. Sho and Masaki stayed with Kazunari a few days. They just enjoyed being around each other. Kazunari mentioned after a week about the Renault Sherpa the commanding officers kept in the underground parking lot of the facility.

 

It was Sho who wanted a ride the most. They took it to the next town and gathered some food in it, they filled its tank again and returned. The second time they found three families trying to keep their homes safe and they traded some flour and soap for the canned goods the guys had brought to have lunch. Before they noticed it, the salvaging then trading had become their life. They had also rescued some dogs and kitties, even children lost and alone and taken them to the small villages for the others to take care of.

 

That's how they ended up with Jun and Satoshi.

 

# Chapter V

 

They spotted a convoy nearing their location, where they were having lunch. They had big trucks. There wasn’t enough time to get the Sherpa off the road and they could only get inside it, picking up their weapons. This happened around the time Sho had started to go to Kazunari's bed. Which didn't bother Masaki, much to his surprise.

 

Kazunari looked out the window and through the mirror. They were nearing, now it was evident that there were 3 pick-up trucks. How in earth did they manage to get that much gasoline?

 

As the trucks passed, their occupants saluted. As though it were any other day before the outbreak and they were just driving by on a Sunday. They kept their weapons concealed, just in case.

 

Then the middle truck stopped and someone stepped out. Masaki's heart was beating like crazy inside his chest.

 

"Good evening, good sirs." The man said lifting his hands to show that he meant no harm. "We are just simple traders, maybe you'd be interested in our goods?"

 

"What kind of goods?" Sho asked cautiously eyeing the man.

 

"Come and see." The man said with a sympathetic gesture, still showing peace signs.

 

Sho nodded, and made a gesture to tell the man that he would be out in a second. He muttered to Masaki and Kazunari to be alert and to cover him up discretely. They knew what he wanted, Masaki stepped down but didn't move from the side of the Sherpa. Kazunari kept in it holding their most powerful rifle.

 

Sho walked towards the back of the third truck to see what they meant. In the truck there were around six people sitting on the box. Four of them were gagged, and hogtied. One of them couldn't be past 12 years old. Sho's heart fell to his stomach and a tight feeling of sickness pumped in his belly.

 

"This one over here," the man signaled the one closer to Sho, and turned around so his face was showing. It was a young man, round face, burnt skin. Short. "I'll take one of the long weapons your friends have, for him." Then he turned the kid to show him to Sho. "This brat… I'll take that revolver you have in your pants if you want him." the man continued. Then pointed to a man, older than the other two, his hair was thinning around his temples and his face hinted that he had worked under the sun for too long. "This one, If you decide to take these two I'll throw him for free." The man laughed.

 

The fourth one, seemed taller and broader than the other three. He lay still and he almost seemed dead. The man didn't say anything about him, and as much Sho was repulsed by what the man was saying, he needed to know.

 

"And him?" His voice sounded too cool in his ears. So alien, like it was somebody else talking.

 

"That one's my premium merchandise and you couldn't possibly be able to afford it." The man sniggered. "…unless you're ready to pitch that tank in…" The man added hopefully

 

"I have to consult with my partners…" Sho muttered. His pensive face made the man nod and wave friendly towards the Sherpa.

 

Sho looked at the two men who were guarding the 'slaves'. Sho hated that word, it felt bitter on the back of his throat even if he hadn't uttered the word out loud. The men on the back of the truck were holding a couple of rifles. In the cabin there were two other guys. The ten paces that separated him from the Sherpa.

 

"They are slave traders" Sho whispered next to Kazunari's window. "They have a kid."

 

Both of them looked at Sho like he was crazy.

 

"I'm going to trade the gun for the kid." Sho continued, still in a small voice. "We can't leave him there."

 

Masaki just swallowed dry. Kazunari nodded and Sho had the feeling that their throats were as dry as his.

 

"Do you still have the tracing device?" He asked and Kazunari nodded in response. "Will it work?" another nod, "Pass it to me with the gun you have in your belt. Masaki, hand me some of the ammo for the revolver, just a handful."

 

They did as Sho told them, and Sho pocketed the semi-automatic along with the tracking device. He unloaded the revolver and with a last look to his partners he took a big breath. Then he went back to the trader.

 

"I'll take the kid." Sho said with a voice that didn't portray any of the hatred, sickness or scorn he felt. He handed the revolver and then the ammo.

 

"It's yours." The man said after he took the revolver greedily and checked that it was in good shape. Sho put his hands to his pockets and held the device before leaning over the truck and sticking it above the tire. One of the guards put away his gun and pulled the kid by the armpits to lift him and hand him to Sho.

 

Sho grabbed the kid and he was sure something cracked in the little body, he helped him stand, but he seemed to be too weak to hold his own weight so Sho kept his arm around him.

 

The men exchanged goodbyes and the trader told Sho how to get in contact with him if he wanted another trade. It involved tying things to trees and stuff, but Sho didn't want to ever see those men alive again.

 

Masaki and Kazunari stepped down the Sherpa once the trucks were out of sight. The child started trembling all over.

 

"Don't be scared, we're not going to hurt you. But we need your help." Sho said offering him his own canteen, so he could drink some water. "What is your name?"

 

"Yuri." He said and his voice was broken, dry.

 

When night fell on them, Sho pulled his sniper rifle from the bag and assembled it on the hill. The three truck convoy had stopped about half a mile from where he was. They were staying by a building that once had been a mall, using it like a shield while the three vehicles were parked in a way that they seemed to be the other three walls in a room. They had a trashcan fire in the middle. Sho had used the scope to locate the other three slave-to-be. They were still on the cage of the truck. They were covered by a blanket. Some of the other men were setting up some sleeping bags while a couple stood defensively in the outer side of the made up room.

 

Sho waited for Kazunari's signal that he and Masaki were in position before aiming his rifle at one of the men who was already in the sleeping bag. He didn't seem to be talking, so others would not notice right away that he was dead. Sho held his breath and pulled the trigger twice. Waited. None of the others seemed to have noticed, even when dark spots began to form on the sleeping bag. Sho directed the sight of the rifle towards another one already asleep and repeated. By the time he had finished all he could do, without the other noticing, the convoy was four men down and still, eight men stood, three were surveying the night, holding shotguns and rifles. The other five were apparently drinking as they stood next to the fire.

 

"Go through left, less light and he's got a shotgun, I'm going to take him down." Sho said in a whisper.

 

"Roger" He heard Masaki say.

 

Sho was able to take the man on the left and the one opposite to the wall. These men had no training so they would be easy prey. They didn't have military training either, not Masaki and himself at least. But they were idiots with guns and that was always dangerous. After taking out the second lookout, Sho took a couple of deep breaths. He noticed something moving from the right and then saw both Kazunari and Masaki approaching. Sho waited until both his friends were covered and by the first lookout's body, before pointing and shooting straight to the head of the one who seemed to be the leader. The same one who cut the deal for the kid.

 

The man fell and the other still kept laughing for a couple of seconds before they understood what happened, even then they leaned over the corpse to see if the man was all right, this gave Sho the opportunity to shoot one more who fell on his face on top of the previous body.

 

Masaki and Kazunari promptly propped on the hood of the truck and started shooting, quickly taking two more of the guys around the fire. They didn't really have anywhere to hide, but one crouched behind the lit trashcan, and the other tried to dash for the truck but Masaki took him out without trouble. Sho couldn't see the third lookout but he fired at the man crouching by the trashcan.

 

He talked to the radio informing his friends that there was only one left.

 

Kazunari spoke calmly, "Hey you're the only one alive, what do you think about surrendering?" he waited for a reply before he kept speaking, "If you come here with your hands in the air, we won't harm yo--"

 

Kazunari's voice was muffled by the singing bullet that whistled over his head. However when the man came out of his hiding, Sho aimed at him and put him down before he could hurt his friends.

 

Even if it seemed all the men were dead or in the process of dying and asking for help. Masaki and Kazunari proceeded cautiously looking for someone they could have overlooked. When they decided that there was no-one else around, they put down their guns and called Sho through the radio so he moved the Sherpa closer.

 

They uncovered the people in the cage of the truck. There were four women lying there. By the looks of them, they were dehydrated and very thin. They hadn't seen any other slaves. In the back of the second truck they found some canned and dry food as well as some ammo and Sho's revolver. In the third were the men Sho had described. All of the prisoners were scared and trembling. They decided to take one of the trucks to transport everyone to a safe place.

 

Satoshi and Jun asked them to stay, to help. They were grateful for their freedom. At first, Kazunari didn't want them. Sho was wary but Masaki was the one who said yes immediately and neither of them could tell no to that bright smile.

 

# Chapter VI

  
Masaki was shaken out of his memories by Jun moaning. He had never told them the extent of the torture he seemed to have received from the men who captured him and Satoshi, but Masaki just cared about helping him around it.

 

Satoshi said it wasn't that he was more resilient, it was that he was just captured that morning. Jun had been with them for at least three weeks. He lost count.

 

Masaki got out of the chair and crawled beside Jun and held him. The frown in Jun's face disappeared, and the man snuggled against him.

 

# Chapter VII

 

The arrangements for the trip took a couple of days. They left the military facility before the crack of dawn. Kazunari didn't like the idea of leaving their little fortress alone for such a long period of time. They had struggled for years to keep it safe and comfortable. All of them but Sho, refused to have breakfast. Their stomachs were in knots thinking that today was the first time they were going to venture that far away from it, and that they might not find the safe haven they had created so carefully when they came back.

 

The day before, they had packed some goods they could use as bargain if they had to pay some kind of fee when going through some territories. They might also come across another settlement they might want to get into friendly terms with, especially if they had been successfully growing vegetables.

 

The road was eerily undisturbed. It wasn't even that long ago that a disease almost wiped out mankind. The spread of the virus was quick and lethal. That's why so many corpses were still exactly where they had died. In their cars, offices, even on the sidewalks. Most of the bodies were now only bones. The energy services stopped working within a week or two, except those places where they had their own generator and they stopped working even after that.

 

The Sherpa had a built in audio system and they were listening to some pop tunes, one of the things they never thought they'd miss. Missing this, the radio, the pop stars trying so hard to not become just a one hit wonder and most of them disappearing anyway… Satoshi sometimes sang along with the music.

 

They arrived to the makeshift walls of a small town. The townspeople had improvised the wall with cars and car parts. They didn't really have to make a stop there, but they had promised Yuri, the boys and the girls that they would bring them some writing tools. They stopped the Sherpa and Kazunari walked to the door, which was guarded by a man. He delivered the package which contained notebooks and pencils. He bribed the guard with a can of tuna so he wouldn't open the package or try to keep some of its contents. When he went back to the truck, they continued their journey.

 

There was a blockage a few hours after that. Shifting the gear to 4 x 4 traction, Sho went outside the road when Kazunari assured him that there were no cliffs or anything of the sort. The windows of the cars revealed their once occupants but now they could only see skeletons; the forever smiling people hanging from the windows that were open. The ones that had their windows closed were still fully clothed, looped sunglasses that were holding to skulls by pieces of skin. Jun turned away from the people who had died trying to get somewhere. They reminded him of his sister who tried to make it back to their parent’s house but never made it. Reminded him of the way he had tried hard to bury them in the backyard. In his town there were only a handful of people left, one of them was a senior who couldn't walk. He shot himself one morning.

 

For the next 10 hours their journey on the road was uneventful, except for the hour where they stopped to have a bite and relieve themselves. There were some roadblocks but they easily got around them with the Sherpa. Things were so calm it was unnerving. The sun was on the horizon when they saw the first signs of the city. They were a little worried about the traffic jam that had stayed the same for six years. If it wasn't the same, if the cars were moved, disturbed from the perpetual traffic jam, they should be start worrying about things that were scarier and more lethal than drying corpses inside cars.

 

They passed by a small convenience store, Masaki and Jun got out of the vehicle and forced the locks. It seemed fairly untouched. They wore their gas masks, if it had been closed for the past 6 years, there may have been mold or other harmful things in the air. They found some canned tuna and soup. They found some aspirin and Neosporin, among other basic medications. There were some pasta packets and cleaning products. They took some of the food and some of the cleaning products, but left the rest of the things they found. They would need the space later and since they had found this store untouched, they could probably pick up a few more things before going back home.

 

They selected an apartment building to use as a base for the night. They would be on the top floor since it'd be easier to defend if things came down to the worst. In the morning they'd go raid a drugstore, a few restaurants and they'd end with the mall by the afternoon to try and get new clothes or housewares.

 

The building they had selected looked good. Kazunari opened the glass door, it had an electronic lock, but Kazunari managed to open the door without breaking it. They secured the Sherpa before they proceeded to go upstairs. They broke into several apartments and picked up a bunch of unused toothbrushes, toothpaste and several bars of soap.

 

They picked one of the apartments on the top floor to sleep in since it had a clear view of the entrance. With the floor’s hall booby trapped, they went to sleep, not forgetting to keep their masks on.

# Chapter VIII

The morning was a routine, they knew too well. They secured the building and created a way to bring the loot back into the Sherpa before they loaded things. They had removed the top machine gun, in case they needed the space to strap boxes on if they found a lot of loot. So far, the drugstore had already been sacked so they couldn't find much, the found some medication they didn't know their use for, but perhaps the doctor in Sunny Village might find some use for them. The restaurants were also already looked through and they rescued some packs of disposable tableware.

 

They didn’t expect the town to be untouched, but so far they hadn’t run into anyone, maybe they had emigrated to where the crops were or just to find some other humans, people arrived to Sunny Village all the time, that’s why they were so selective to who they let inside the walls, they couldn’t afford to bring harm to the children and old people that had found the way over there. In the end they always let the strangers in and allowed them to become part of their community.

 

But all the stores in this city were raided, and they only had some things, not enough for helping the people in the village. They had become close to a dozen hundreds of people just in the last two years, even when they started as a hundred when they took Yuri and the other people to live in there. They weren’t responsible for them, of course, but they seemed to have taken into their protection the wellbeing of all those people.

 

After close to a couple of hours of looking thoroughly in every corner of every already salvaged store, they were starting to feel discouraged when they came across a convenience store that hadn't been raided and stopped for a while to get some canned food, cleaning supplies, rubbing alcohol, cigarettes, and drinking alcohol amongst other useful things.

 

The things they found in the last convenience store made them feel like maybe it hadn't been a waste of time and resources after all. The mall was now in sight, they crossed over the sidewalk since some vehicles were stuck by the entrance of the parking lot. Bodies probably hung out of the windows at some point because there were skulls and bones lying on the pavement, looking old and battered.

 

Masaki turned away from any signs of corpses. He avoided looking at them, thinking about the fact that no one was there to give them a proper burial. He couldn't possibly give everyone a tomb, he was just one man. He had tried burying some people, but after the fifteenth person he gave up. If he had seen the corpses, he’d notice how they didn’t die from the plague, they had little holes on the skulls.

 

There were a few cars parked around the mall. They rounded the mall to see what entrance was more secure, to see if there was some kind of sign that there were people around the area. Fortunately there didn't seem to be any cars that hadn’t been touched for the last six years, if the condition the cars were in, and the empty gas tanks, were anything to go by.

 

They finally decided to enter through the west entrance. The sun was reaching the high of the sky and they wanted to have some light when they went outside later in the afternoon. Kazunari wanted Sho to drive the Sherpa through the door but Jun advised against it, and since he was the one who thought out their strategies and had actually been the most successful out of all of them, they all agreed.

In the Sherpa, Sho was preparing to stay and mind the entrance as usual while the others put on their gas masks.

"You should come with us." Jun said before lowering the mask over his face. "I think we should remain together."

Something was bothering Jun, Masaki noticed, this made him nervous. He tried to push down the feeling and pass it off as just simple nerves from being in an unknown place. They tried to look for a map of the building; although Kazunari seemed to have maps from all over the world in that damned machine of his, there was no map.

 

Sho pulled a revolver, the same revolver that had saved Jun and Satoshi, into his waistband besides a handful of ammo and then a rifle over his shoulder. He was tempted to grab his sniper rifle and take it with him, but he decided against it, fearing they would have to take stuff back into the Sherpa.

Masaki took a deep breath as they stood together and started going forward in a formation Jun had devised. Sho was walking behind him looking out for someone that could have decided to follow them.

They advanced through the halls and open doors, looking for a place that didn't already look plundered. They found a sportswear store that seemed relatively untouched, so Sho and Satoshi stayed as lookouts while Kazunari worked store’s locks, whilst Jun and Masaki assembled a cart they used for big loot.

 

It was then that they heard a noise. They froze and waited, listening for noises or indications of another person being in the building. It didn't come, so they continued. The store's door gave in and the three of them went inside. They held their flashlights to see inside. The clothes hanging for exhibition were dirty and they seemed to have been ridden by moths. They continued to the back of the store and found some boxes of cleanly packed clothes of different sizes and styles. They put them into the cart and when they found some sneakers they carried them too.

 

It looked good. Now that they had the cart, Jun was in charge of pulling while the other four took care of the security. Jun was the worst shooter amongst them so it was okay. On the first floor they found a drugstore and inside, some of the things they were after such as medical supplies, which included bandages and some Potassium Iodide.

 

They went back to the Sherpa and put the things in it before going inside and onto the second level of the mall. The sun had started to fall when they went back in.

They hadn’t been careful enough. Seeing that they had already cleared up the first floor, they had thought that the mall was just as abandoned as the rest of the city. How wrong they had been.

They found another untouched clothing store. They had relaxed into their false sense of security and Sho was looking inside the store instead of being on look out, laughing at something Masaki was saying. Satoshi was on the other side of the door picking his nose. Neither had their rifles on their hands, so when the first shot came, they both froze. It had come from one of the upper floors. They saw the men pointing down and they ran inside the store, trying to hold their weapons up.

The bullets rained in front of the store. Behind Sho, Jun was crouching too. Sho took his rifle and pointed but due to the position he was in, he wasn't able to see them.

 

Masaki yelled at them to go to the back of the store since there was a staircase there. They ran for it and regrouped upstairs. The store’s doors were closed on this floor.

"We need to separate." Jun panted as they crouched behind a counter. "Sho, you go up that mannequin stand and shoot anyone who comes up those stairs. Kazu, come with me we’re going to defend the other side. Masaki and Satoshi, you defend this side." He finished and ran towards the other side of the store, pointing at the stairs positive that they were going to come at any minute.

 

There was silence. The five of them waited in their positions for what seemed to be an eternity. There were some steps and some ragged breaths coming near.

"UP THERE!" a female voice screamed from downstairs. Masaki held his breath and pointed his own rifle. There was shooting. Masaki thought they were handling the situation pretty well. If they continued to guard their position like this, they just might be victorious.

 

Masaki didn't hear any other noise but the shooting they had been doing, but the sudden light behind them caught them off guard and blinded them for a moment. He didn't know what to do because now, bullets were coming in both directions. So he turned to point his weapon to the other side, trying to communicate with Satoshi that he should keep shooting at the stairs, hoping that he had heard.

 

He had just made a shot when he saw it. Some guy was pulling Sho from the mannequin stand. There was blood, so much blood. Everything around him froze. The sound seemed to be muffled and cease to matter. He didn’t know who was shooting who anymore, frankly he didn’t care right now. Masaki didn’t notice when he let go of the rifle. Tears streamed out of his eyes but he didn’t realize. Time was funny when things like this happened. All he wanted to do was run and get Sho out of there, he stood numbed, unable to think about the bullets flying all over the place, almost hitting his shoulder.

 

It was Satoshi who had pulled him. Everything happened so fast. Them running downstairs, Kazunari blowing some guy's head as they reached the ground floor, and Jun telling them to run to the left while he and Kazunari went right.

He didn't noticed the tears streaming down his face until they hid behind some record stand. Masaki wiped out his face with his palms and it came to his attention how much his hands were shaking. He wanted to scream and get rid of that thing that was trying to rip his throat from the inside.

"You have to be quiet," Satoshi said in his calming voice. "Shhhh…. Shh… please Masaki, they'll find us…" he was talking quietly but the desperation was starting to seep into his words. Satoshi held him fast against his chest and Masaki was gasping and trying to get control over himself.

When he finally felt he had calmed down, he lifted his head and looked into Satoshi's eyes.

"They took Sho down." He whispered, "I saw the blood."

"I know," Satoshi said and stroked Masaki's hair, "but there's nothing we can do right now but survive. We have to move, can you move?"

Masaki nodded and they walked as quietly as they could to get out from the record store. When they reached the end opposite to the entrance where they had gone in through, they heard some guys talking. They were talking about how much they wanted to drive “that monster the fucking fags had left outside”. They weren't being discreet at all.

 

Both still crouched by the door waiting for the guys to either pass the store or go into it. They seemed to have chosen to do the latter. They didn't look around when they entered the store so they hadn’t noticed them. They weren't even carrying firearms, one of them carried a baseball bat and the other some kind of wrench.

 

Masaki didn't want to alert everyone else in the mall that they were there, so pulling out his knife and motioning to Satoshi to do the same. They slithered as silently as they could. Until they were behind the guys who had stopped to look at some of the CDs that were still kind of intact, making jokes about their music taste. Masaki stopped breathing as he made gestures to Satoshi so they both jumped at the same time.

 

Masaki's hands were shaking so bad, he missed the guy's throat. Turning around, the man managed to land a strike on Masaki's leg with the baseball bat he had been carrying when he walked in. The knife fell off Masaki's hand and he himself hit the floor when another hit landed on his arm. Masaki bit back a yell, still wanting not to attract the attention of more of their attackers. With a grunt he tried to get up but he slipped on something.

 

Satoshi had been more precise and the guy barely had time to lift his hands to his throat and a screech one last time before falling on the floor, blood spurting out his cut throat. He turned to look at Masaki, but he was on the floor grabbing his arm and trying to get away from the other thug. It was a second, he reacted without thinking. Satoshi drove his knife into the guy's gut before he could land a fatal blow to Masaki's head. Masaki reacted and kicked the guy on the nuts before he could do anything else, giving Satoshi enough time to stab him again, this time on the throat.

 

There was blood everywhere and Masaki couldn't hold his lunch in. He had seen so much blood just one time before, when they attacked the slave traders and he had puked then too. They exited the record store once he was sure he would not vomit again. Satoshi, who was in better condition, helped him out of the store.

 

There was an escalator nearby, but when they got there, they realized it was blocked by debris. Standing on the leg that was hit, made Masaki want to scream. All his right side was pulsing with pain, even if there had been only two hits. He thanked that it wasn’t a metal baseball bat. Satoshi had to help him for a while before he felt that he could walk by himself.

 

Shooting could be heard when they finally reached an unblocked stairway. Luckily it sounded far from where they were. Satoshi went pale, but if he was going to cry, he pushed it back pulling Masaki the rest of the way up.

There was a closed hardware store that Masaki thought briefly about how he’d like to loot there. He heard some more gunshots and the idea vanished from his head. They saw someone walking towards them but on the other side of the hole in the middle of the mall that allowed to see all the floors between them. They crouched behind a plastic plant stand that was covered in dust which started to make Masaki's nose itch.

 

He held his left fingers over his nose trying to keep the sneeze in, but in the end he lost the battle and a series of sneezes came out his mouth. Three shots. All three missed their target, even the stand. Masaki tried pull his rifle from across his shoulder but his arm hurt like hell, he pulled the semi-automatic he had in his pocket with his uninjured hand and pointed. There was only one man, and Satoshi took him out with his own handgun before Masaki could really aim.

 

They were afraid the shots had alerted someone so they ran. They ran until they found a staircase, going downstairs. They looked at each other before deciding to go down. They didn't know where they were because of all the running they’d done. They went down and crouched behind the bar of some stand that once had been a burger joint. They were in the food court now. Masaki didn't know where the way out was anymore, they couldn’t see the sun, and there was no map of this place, just a general satellite picture. He had no idea of how far the Sherpa was. They stayed still for a few minutes, listening carefully for some indication of danger but they didn't hear anything.

 

Satoshi started to move and Masaki followed to the best of his capability right now was difficult not to lag behind. He didn't know where the other was taking him, but he trusted the man. Soon they found themselves in front of the store where they were when they had been ambushed. There were bodies on the floor, Masaki turned away but his need to see Sho one last time was greater than his repulsion of corpses. He walked towards them, Satoshi had become motionless.

Masaki walked over the bodies, the urge to be sick was there again, there was blood everywhere. The metallic smell of gunpowder and blood reeked all over the place but there was no way to run away from it.

He pushed the bodies and found that Sho wasn't amongst the dead. Relief swept through his body like wildfire. Sho could be alive right now. There were blood trails, but he didn't know if it was Sho's or if it lead to another injured person. He was going to tell Satoshi the good news when he noticed the man's face lit, so he turned to where Satoshi was looking.

Kazunari was propping Jun up so he could walk. Kazunari's eye seemed swollen and Jun was limping. Masaki noticed that they were also just as covered in blood as him and Satoshi were.

"Sho?" Kazunari asked anxiously purposely not looking at the pile of bodies.

"Not there." Masaki whispered as he pulled them both in his arms.

"Are there any of them left?" Satoshi asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know, but we have to be cautious." Jun croaked. It was then when Masaki noticed the dark marks on Jun's throat. He felt like crying again.

"Let's get out of here." Kazunari suggested, rearranging Jun's arm around his shoulders.

"Sho…" Masaki started but was interrupted

"We come for him after we take Jun to a safe place." Kazunari gritted, like he didn't like the idea but he didn't want to risk it.

They advanced slowly towards the back stairs, walking over the bodies spread at the entrance, then back to the stairs and into the ground floor again. The boxes they had stacked weren't there anymore. They made their way cautiously, aware of any movement or noise.

After reaching the ground floor, they all stopped dead on their tracks, alerted when a rasping sound came from a perfume stand in the middle of an isle. The counter's glass was long gone. A few pieces remained on the floor. The rasping sound came again.

"Masaki?" A deep voice came from the same direction. "Masaki?" it repeated.

 

Masaki almost let go of his gun but Satoshi grabbed it from his hand before he could harm any of them. He walked as fast as he could towards the stand and found Sho lying there. He had a t-shirt tied above his knee and there was so much blood on the floor.

 

The others came closer then. Satoshi helped Masaki lift Sho by the armpits. He didn't seem all that conscious right now, and that made Masaki really worried. But Sho smiled at them as they made their way to the entrance.

They were cautious when they stepped outside. There were three cars that weren't there before surrounding the Sherpa, they noticed a man was smoking by it. It was Satoshi who shot him. Masaki fished the keys from Sho's pocket to open the truck.

Sho's leg was injured, he explained that he had fallen off the mannequin stand when a bullet had scraped his leg. He had taken on five guys before the other ones had decided to run. There had been so much blood that they probably took him for dead. He had made a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and then tried to find them as soon as the men were gone, but when the adrenaline came down and the shock started to settle in, he had tried to get to the Sherpa but had passed out just as he had found his current hiding place.

Jun was in a bad shape too. He had landed wrong when trying to jump over a counter, then the guy chasing after him tried to shoot him. Jun had managed to kick the gun out of his hand so the man tried to strangle him and was succeeding too. Jun's hand touched some kind of stick when his hands reached out searching around him to find something to defend himself with. Then he hit the man on the head as hard as he could and didn’t stop until he stopped moving. Blood had splattered everywhere. Nino had taken out three men with his rifle in the meantime.

They stayed a little longer to tend their wounds. Jun's ankle was swollen but it didn't seem broken. Sho had lost blood, but it didn't seem life threatening. They had some antibiotics if he needed them. Nino was driving now and Jun had told him to get the Sherpa into the mall to pick up some more.

Jun and Sho rode in silence. The stairways were broad enough for the Sherpa to climb. They found their boxes by the food court, on the other side from where Masaki and Satoshi had been hiding. They went further up to the hardware store Masaki had seen and they picked up some tools. He strapped them on top of the Sherpa.

They also found a kids' store and packed some boxes too.

They decided to stay in the apartment building again that night.

 

# Chapter IX

 

Masaki Cleaned Sho's leg with some water they had obtained from the convenience store. In the state both Sho and Jun were in, they didn't camp all the way up to the top floor this time. Masaki wanted to get rid of their blooded clothes as soon as he got near the apartment. He threw the soiled clothes out the window and made everyone do the same. They couldn't bathe or anything, but they cleaned as much as they could with wipes and towels from their host. The apartment had no corpses and was fairly clean. Perhaps the apartment’s habitants hadn’t been there when they had died. They had taken some of the blankets that were in vacuum bags in the closet and used them to make a nest in the living room.

Jun was being held by Satoshi and they were whispering things into each other's ears.

Masaki ran his fingers around the wound on Sho's leg. It wasn't much, but it had scared him to death. Tears escaped from his eyes and he wiped them quickly. It had stopped bleeding, and that was good.

"Why are you crying?" Sho asked softly taking his hand and pulling him closely.

"I almost lost you." Masaki sobbed. He didn't want to cry, he just couldn't help it.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"I almost lost all of you." he added looking at Jun's foot. "I… I don't know… if you, if Sho left me, I wouldn't know what to do anymore"

"Let's sleep." Nino ordered. "I'll take the first shift."

Masaki didn't want to hurt Sho but he needed to hold him so much. He compromised by holding Sho's hand.

 

# Chapter X

 

The light was dying. On a clean blanket nest, Sho watched the sky change from blue, to orange, pink and lastly red. The sky was starting to become a yellowish red as the sun slowly hid behind the horizon, when Masaki walked out to the patio.

His leg had a yellow crust where the bullet had scraped him and the doctor over at the village in the west had said that he was going to be okay if they cleaned it every morning and every evening. The medical supplies they had picked up in the city had helped him greatly.

He put a washbasin by Sho's feet and smiled. Sho's eyes left the sky, slowly lowering until he reached Masaki's face. He had been smiling all along, but his face brightened up even more at the sight of this man.

Masaki took off the bandage over the wound and put it away, he cleaned the wound and Sho didn't flinch as much as he had for the past week. That made Masaki feel relieved, he had been really worried about Sho and his health status, he could walk a little now.

Sighing, Masaki looked up to Sho's face. Sho was staring back with a cute smirk. He finished drying the leg with a towel.

Overall they felt grateful that everything had worked out in the end. Masaki had been woken up by nightmares for the last few days and Jun had had a relapse on the night terrors and woke up screaming in the middle of the night. They hadn't left the facilities much lately since they were trying to get Nino's swollen face to go down, Jun to use his foot again, and trying not to get Sho’s wound infected. Masaki had had his arm immobile for the first few days, after that he could manage to move it a bit more. Satoshi had been the lucky one, coming out with only a few scratches.

 

They had traded blankets and notebooks with the doctor as thanks for the medical attention. The man claimed he didn't want anything but they forced him to take it. The team had almost lost their lives because of the loot after all. This man was helping them to regain their health, that’s the least they could do.

 

Masaki crawled up to Sho to kiss him. His lips were plump and eager against Masaki's, they were soon lying on their sides kissing deeply. His arms snaked around Sho's waist pulling him closer and his hips grinded against Sho's groin. It had been quite some time since the last time they were like that.

It was moist and hot. Masaki traced Sho's skin under his t-shirt. The skin was cold but a bit sweaty, Sho groaned and grinded his hips against Masaki's. He was feeling needy, he had tried to push his leg between Masaki’s but the pain had stopped him from it. Masaki seemed a bit more aware of Sho's injury and hadn't tried.

"I want you so much." Masaki moaned between kisses.

"Me too." Sho whispered.

His breath faltered and stopped for a couple of seconds when Masaki's fingers breached Sho's jogging pants and the tips caressed the leaking head. Sho grinded against his fingers but Masaki didn't hold the cock right away, he waited until Sho whined a complaint before grabbing him and starting stroking him.

"Fuck me." Sho gasped trying to push Masaki onto his back but his leg hurt as he tried to straddle him.

"I'll go get the lube." Masaki said pushing Sho away.

"No…" Sho complained trying to get Masaki to stay.

"I can’t fuck you raw. We tried once, remember?"

Sho pouted and nodded letting Masaki go.

 

Masaki felt so hot and bothered right now, he didn't want to move away either but he wasn't going to hurt Sho more than necessary. More than he already was.

 

He was in the bathroom, looking through the medicine cabinet when Kazunari went in, hugging him from behind immediately. Kazu was shorter and his head nested between Masaki's shoulder blades while his arms rounded the taller man's body.

Masaki wanted to push him away and go back to Sho, but Kazu ground his crotch against his butt and made him feel that he was also hard. The small hands went down his abdomen and caressed the tent that had formed in his sweatpants.

"Can I join? I've been looking at you… you're so hot…" Kazunari mumbled rubbing his face against Masaki's back. Mistaking the moment Masaki took to close his eyes and enjoy the smaller body around his, Kazu said, "I don't need to fuck, just need to be with you."

"I…" Masaki started but his voice faltered. "Come, with us…" he finished with a raspy voice.

Kazu kissed his shoulder and pulled the lubricant bottle from the open cabinet. Masaki had forgotten to take it because he was busy bracing himself against the sink.

"Let's not keep Sho waiting…"He said pulling Masaki by the arm and back to the yard.

The sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the solar emergency lights around the patio were lit now. Sho had already gotten rid of his pants and shirt by the time Masaki came back. He had his hand on own cock stroking it in long but firm pulls. Masaki got rid of his clothes quickly before kneeling next to him. He leaned over to kiss him again. It hadn't been more than ten minutes they had been apart and he couldn't believe he missed the heat of his mouth and the moist of his tongue so much already.

Carefully, Masaki helped Sho turn to his side and Kazunari was by his side helping them, his stubby fingers tracing Sho's calves. If he was surprised about Kazu suddenly being there, Sho didn't show it.

He squeezed Sho's ass cheeks and rained kisses on his back. Kazu had gotten in front of Sho and was kissing him on the mouth.

Masaki squeezed some lube into his fingers before reaching between Sho's buttocks and touching the tight rim with the tip of his middle finger. Sho moaned and shivered all over.

Being so enthralled with the heat inside Sho, his hands, his kisses, his body; neither Masaki nor Kazu noticed when the door leading to the patio opened again. Jun was being braced against Satoshi as they made their way to the center, where the blankets lay.

It caught them off guard to find the other two naked and invested on making Sho feel good. But it wasn't the first time they had seen it. Jun didn't move even when Satoshi tried to get him move closer. It'd be a lie if Jun said he hadn't shared his bed with the other three in addition to Satoshi, who was the light of his life. It was just that they hadn't shared a moment like this, where they were all together. It made Jun anxious. He worried of what would become of them if things didn't work out. It wasn't like there were "many fish in the sea" like they said back then, not anymore, and he loved these four people dearly.

Satoshi tugged his arm, and Jun noticed Sho had his eyes fixed on them. He beckoned them waving his hand. It was then when Masaki and Kazu realized they were standing there. Masaki smirked and moved his hand evoking a moan from Sho. Kazu just kept kissing Sho’s skin, one hand on his dick and the other around his own.

Jun still took another moment before letting Satoshi drag him towards the others. Helped by Satoshi, he sat down on the blankets. Masaki wasn't far from him, he could touch him if he turned toward him and extended his arm. He didn't do it however, because Satoshi straddled him and began to kiss him as he undid the checkered shirt's buttons.

For a couple of minutes, Jun forgot about the others behind him, Sho writhing and grunting when either Masaki or Kazu did something that felt good. Right now, for Jun, there was nothing else in the world but himself and Satoshi and his tongue making him feel hot all over.

The enchantment was broken when Jun felt a hand on his back. It was Kazu who silently asked permission to steal a kiss from Satoshi. He had been so lost in Satoshi's kiss, he hadn’t noticed when Kazu had pulled him back from Sho and crawled over. He backed away and now he was closer to Masaki. His fingers almost acted on their own, tracing the muscles on the man's back, reaching his buttocks and his skin filled with goose bumps.

Sliding the shirt down his arms, Jun then undid his pair of jeans that had been part of the loot from the mall. He tossed his clothes out of the way and then went back to Masaki and Sho on his hands and knees.

Jun kissed the birthmark on Masaki's shoulder. They had always liked it, even when Masaki was feeling conscious about it and tried to hide it. He sucked the skin and made a path of kisses to his neck and jawline. Masaki complied, responding to Jun's lips on his mouth.

Someone pulled on Jun's underwear, and he almost protested but he remembered the whole point of this was to be naked. Feeling hands on his body, Jun pushed his face on Masaki's body. He smelled him and kissed him before sitting up.

Masaki's hand was still stretching Sho, and it made Jun shiver. Satoshi tucked him against his chest, wrapping Jun in his arms and caressed his chest, abdomen and thighs. He avoided his cock that was half hard. He was starting to wonder where Kazunari was when he noticed him looking at them just next to Satoshi.

"Just fuck me." Sho whined, startling everyone, because they hadn't talked in a while. "C'mon, baby… I just… need you inside."

"Just a little more." Masaki groaned while Sho grunted another complaint. "Aren't you ashamed to be such a cock-hungry-slut in front of everyone?" Masaki teased turning to look at the other three.

"No, just put it in." Sho answered immediately, gaining a snort from Kazu and Jun.

"Not yet." Masaki said pulling his fingers out and using more lubricant to push in a third one. Sho's hips pushed back against the fingers.

"Please?" Sho begged in a high voice.

Meanwhile, Kazunari had slowly progressed down Jun's body leaving a trail of kisses behind, and now his mouth had reached his cock, bringing it to a full erection. Hissing, Jun threaded his fingers on Kazunari's hair. Satoshi hadn't done much but press his chest against Jun's back tracing his biceps with his fingers.

 

It all turned blurry after that. Mouths, hands, lips… at one point Masaki had moved away to let Jun lean over and kiss Sho. Then Jun was inside Kazu, feeling him writhing underneath his body; Kazunari's legs were carefully wrapped around his waist so he wouldn't hurt Jun. Satoshi had Sho's leg over his shoulder, snapping his hips in him while Masaki fucked Sho's mouth. Masaki pile-driving Jun into the blankets. Kazunari riding Sho, contracting and relaxing his belly. Satoshi on all fours, kissing Sho while Jun eats him out. Masaki trapped between Sho and Kazunari, finally coming apart inside of Sho, Kazu moving for just a bit longer before stopping too.

 

They slept under the stars, the night still not too cold to be unable to. Sated, tired, feeling very much in love, they lay, not even worrying about standing lookout through the night. Just happy to be together.

# Chapter XI

 

Sunny Village was wet, since it had rained for most of the morning. In the afternoon, the guys from the military base came. They had blankets and bed sheets. Canned foods and cutlery, things that made the inhabitants of the village feel less alien, like things had gone back to normal. They had an engineer that made the power plant go back to work with the help of a dozen people.

Chinen, the kid that had been rescued at the same time as Jun and Satoshi, ran towards the big truck loaded with stuff and several smaller children ran behind him. It was a wonder how he hadn't gone there sooner. He hugged Satoshi tight, who patted the kid awkwardly on the head.

Masaki pulled a box that was tied to the roof of the Sherpa and opened it with an enormous smile. The faces of the kids brightened once Masaki had opened it.

Kazunari had been against them bringing that over another box, but Masaki had been adamant about bringing it and Kazu simply too tired and sore to argue any longer, all of them were after the fiasco in the mall. Now, seeing the small faces with that light from within, Masaki knew he had been right about bringing it in.

He started taking out some toys from the box and gave them to the kids while Kazunari helped Sho to the doctor's shack, Jun limped by their side.

Even with the scars, even if things weren't what they used to be, and kids wouldn't have new toys in quite a while. Even if the world was mostly empty. Things seemed great to Masaki, they had learned a lesson, and they had paid the price for their mistake. Fortunately not fatally so.

Masaki breathed deeply as he saw the kids run around with the toys. Satoshi was unloading some blankets from the back of the Sherpa. Masaki took a moment to close his eyes and feel the happiness wash over him, then he turned and helped Ohno finish unloading.

**Author's Note:**

> The Renault Sherpa is a military vehicle. It’s ideally suited for tactical missions such as scouting, patrol, convoy escort and command and liaison. It is able to transport up to 4 or 5 soldiers or a total payload of up to 4 tons. Just a feeling of what it is like: http://youtu.be/a85AHAQ-3t8


End file.
